


Mr. Lang

by falconisms



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Babysitter AU, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 08:44:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10918350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falconisms/pseuds/falconisms
Summary: Scott is a single, overworked dad that has come to the realization that he can’t keep asking his ex-wife and friends to watch Cassie five days of the week when he comes across an old babysitter ad by a Sam Wilson.





	Mr. Lang

“What do you mean you can’t watch Cassie?” 

 

“Scott, it’s a two hour drive out. I can’t be doing it three times a week.”

 

“I’m working four jobs to make sure I can care for her. Isn’t this what you wanted Maggie? Me to clean up my act and be able to support Cassie?”

 

“It is, but isn’t four jobs a little excessive? She’s your daughter, you need to be able spend more time with her. Finding people to watch her in such short notice was bound to stop working.”

 

“I can’t afford to have daycare five days outta the week Maggie. Sometimes I can barely make rent.”

 

“I’ll take her this time but seriously Scott, I’m sure you can find a babysitter that will change wages because of your situation. I know it’s hard, but you really are doing a great job.” Scott briefly heard someone whisper to Maggie on the other line. “ Alright, I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow when you get off work.”

 

“Thanks Mags.” Scott let out and pulled the phone away from his ear, watching the call end. Find a babysitter that’s willing to work five days a week and willing to change their pay rate because of Scott’s sob story. No problem. 

 

**

 

Turns out finding a babysitter to do just that was a big problem. Either they were willing to work five days a week but didn’t even blink at Scott's story or they felt bad for his situation but weren’t willing to put in the time. Having lost all hope, he moped around his whole shift at his gas station job.

 

The store was run down and dead silent except one old man who was actually dying as he looked slowly over all the lottery tickets, and back over them again. Searching for anything to keep Scott from falling asleep, he pulled out one of the month old newspapers they had shoved behind the newer ones. Turning from sports to comics to local news, he ended up in the job search. 

 

Scott already was tossing around four jobs on top of raising a kid, he shouldn’t be looking at old job offers.  _ It's just light reading material, don’t get any ideas Lang.  _ He thought to himself. So that's what he did, mindlessly scanned over the words until one ad actually caught his eye. 

 

Babysitter for hire. Flexible, open hours and cheap. Everything Scott needs. 

 

Should he really trust an old babysitter ad that charges $5 an hour? Probably not. Who knows, the person might not be a great babysitter at that rate, or their offer might not  be open with all the time that's passed. But he’s willing to try, he has to. Looking closer at the fihe print, Scott sees a name. 

 

Sam Wilson. 

 

Under the name simply has a phone number. Alright, this is just something Scott will have to do. He’ll call this “Sam Wilson”, talk to them about the ad and then he’ll leave them with Cassie for a few hours and report back to see how it went on her standards. If she’s willing to try a babysitter. 

 

Scott grabbed some scissors from the managers keep behind the counter and cut out the full ad and shoved it into his pocket. To look like he was working, he sorted the papers by date and threw away all the older ones.

 

**

  
A sweet cry of “Daddy!” and sounds of sock covered feet running down the cramped hallway when he opened the front door put smile on Scott’s face immediately. He bent down right when Cassie came into sight. Her hair was braided into pigtails and a crown sat on top of her head. She barreled towards her dad with her short arms spread for a hug. Scott scooped her up as soon as there was contact between the two.

  
“Hey Princess!” He beamed, lifting Cassie up. “Did I miss the tea party this afternoon? I never got an invitation.” She laughed while shaking her head, making her pigtails bounce back and forth. “I didn’t miss it? Then what are we standing around for Cass? We got a tea party to throw.” Scott gently put her down so he could take off his shoes and put his keys away. 

 

“No Daddy!” She wrinkled her nose and shook her head again. Scott bent down to meet her face to face, raising an eyebrow in question. “I didn’t invite you ‘cause you’re busy all the time.” He immediately placed his hands on her small shoulders and  ran them up and down the upper half of her arms. 

  
“Oh but I’m never too busy to spend time with you Peanut.” Scott looked up from Cassie to meet Luis’ gaze, hoping he’ll get the message that they need to speak before he heads out. “Now, would you look at the time?” He looked at an imaginary watch on his wrist, causing Cassie to laugh a little, “It’s time for the after party tea party!  Is the table all set for your guests?” Cassie’s eyes were wide as she quickly shook her head. Crossing his arms, Scott puffed out his chested, “Well, you better go set it! Your guests will be arriving shortly Princess!” Cassie let out a short scream and ran back towards her room to set up for a second tea party.

 

“Two tea parties in one day? That’s a lot for one little girl to handle.” Luis had a cheeky smile on his face at the sight of Cassie running excitedly into her bedroom. He lifted off the tiara Cassie surely convinced him to wear.

 

“Ah, Princess Luis,” Scott stood up from his kneeling to speak to his daughter to do a deep bow towards his best friend. “How was this evening with Princess Cassie?” Standing up straight again, he walked over to Luis to clap their right hands together, pull each other in and patting each other sharply on the back. 

 

“As good as you can expect, you got a great kid Scotty.” They both looked down the cramped hallway leading towards the two bedrooms in the small apartment. Cassie’s door was open and you could hear her humming as she set up her plastic tea set.

 

Nodding, Scott turned back to Luis, “Well man, thanks again for watching after her today. I’ll make it up to you somehow, promise.” 

 

“Nah, you’ve done enough for me man.” Luis shook his head and walked over to the stuff he brought along. Slinging his backpack on, slipping his shoes on and handing Scott the small tiara, Luis headed towards the door to leave. “You and Cass have fun, I’ll see ya later.”

 

“Hey before you go, I need your advice on something.” Luis turned back to Scott at that in time to see him pull out the newspaper ad he got earlier at work. He held it out for Luis to grab and look over. “It’s a babysitter ad. A cheap, flexible one, like it’s too good to be true.”

 

“And that’s exactly what’s setting you off,” He replied, taking the ad from Scott and looked it over. “So what’s on your mind?”

 

“I need to take it up with the Princess,” Scott pointed his thumb over his shoulder, “ and depending on how she reacts, hire them for an hour or so and see what Cassie thinks of them?” Scott fidgeted with the hem of his polo work shirt. “But isn’t that weird? Hiring a stranger to watch your kid for a few hours and asking said kid to tell you how it went? Yeah that's too weird. Maybe there’s a coworker at one of my jobs who’s kid coul-”

 

“Scotty.” Scott snapped his mouth shut at the tone of Luis’ voice. “Give it a try. Cassie will be totally ok with a babysitter. How much is at risk here really? Ten dollars?” Luis handed the ad back to Scott and opened the front door. “Whatever happens, you’ll figure it out amigo, you always do.” With that, Luis waved his hand up and left Scott to decide on his own.

 

However when a “Daddy!” was called out from down the hall, Scott knew he wasn’t totally alone in this decision. 

 

Heading down the hallway to the little girl’s room with a bright smile on his face, Scott called down to her “I’m coming Princess.” When he appeared in Cassie’s doorway, she took hold of three of his fingers, her way of holding his hand, and led him towards her small table with plastic china set out on it for a tea party.

 

“You’ll sit here Daddy,” She pointed at a spot on the ground, Scott sat down at with his legs crossed. The table was low to the ground and had chipping paint, it was missing its matching chairs so instead Cassie took pillows and cushions from around the apartment when she sat at it. Around the table on the other cushions sat Cassie's favorite stuffed bears and toys, playing the part as the other guests at the party. 

 

The eight year old sat straight across from Scott and began to pour imaginary tea into each plastic cup. She started on her left, making it around to each guest, asking if they want any sugar or milk. “Milk for your tea?” She looked up at Scott once she was done pouring him his own cup of tea. 

 

He place the small silver tiara Luis was previously wearing on his head and nodded with gusto, “Of course Princess Cassie, you always remember how I enjoy my tea.” Scott sat up straight and spoke in some sort of accent. Cassie giggled with a wrinkled nose, finishing her cup of tea with three imaginary sugar cubes. She lifted her tea cup with her pinkie extended out, sat up straight like her father and tried to mock his accent.

 

“Thank you for coming Princess Daddy,” Cassie held the cup towards Scott to initiate a delicate cheers. Scott followed her lead, lifting the cup with his pinkie finger out and carefully met his daughter’s plastic tea cup halfway. A soft clink of the plastic signaled them to left the cups to their mouths and pretend to take a sip of the tea.

 

“Ah! The best tea as always Princess Cassie!” Scott exclaimed after he took a sip of his imaginary tea. 

 

“Daddy?” Cassie put down her teacup and looked intently at Scott. “What’s wrong?” He blinked, taken aback.

 

“What do you mean Cass?” She lead forward over the short table and placed her small hands on his face.

 

“Your face is all crinkled.” She rubs up and down his cheeks, stretching his skin down slightly. Scott didn’t realize his brows were furrowed this whole time, constant worry on his face. Of course Cassie picked up on it. He relaxed his face and gave her a small smile while grabbing her hands.

 

“I have a question for you.” He pulled his daughters hands off his cheeks and let out a sigh through his nose, “Would you be okay with having a babysitter that watches you when I’m not home?”

 

“But I have Mommy and Uncle Luis to watch me.” Cassie said, “I don’t need a babysitter.” Scott nodded and stood up, still holding one of Cassie’s hands, leading her out of the room and down to the apartments kitchen. 

 

“I know Peanut, but Mommy and Luis can’t be here every time I need them to be.” The kitchen was cramped, holding one counter top and a square dinner table in the corner. Scott lifted Cassie up to sit in her spot at the dining table. “A babysitter can be here when I can’t.” Cassie pursed her lips while kicking her short legs back and forth.

 

Scott pulled out a tub of vanilla ice cream from the freezer in the fridge that was only a short distance away from the table. Scooping three scoops into a bowl and grabbing two spoons, he brought the bowl to Cassie. As soon as the bowl touched the table Scott held up one finger towards the young girl and went to put the tub away.

 

“Also,” He came back with sprinkles, “We’ll do a test run.” He poured some sprinkles on Cassie’s half of the ice cream and handed her one of the spoons.

 

“A test run?” She questioned before taking a bite. 

 

“Yup. Tomorrow is Saturday, I don’t have to work. But I do need to get groceries. So I’ll ask them to watch after you for a few hours while I shop.” Scott took a large bite of ice cream. 

 

“What’s their name?” She asked, a bit of ice cream on the corner of her mouth. Scott smiled, wiping the food off her face and pulled out the newspaper ad. “Sam Wilson.” She read. “Will they have tea parties with me?” 

 

“I’m sure if you ask nicely they will have tea parties with you.” Scott ruffled her hair, “Now let’s finish up, it’s almost your bedtime.” Cassie nodded and shortly after they cleaned out the bowl of ice cream.

 

**

 

The clock read 8:45 pm by the time Cassie fell asleep. Scott left her bedroom door slightly ajar and headed back to the kitchen. He grabbed an apple for the fridge, the newspaper ad from the table and made his way to the ratty couch that resided in the living room area. Taking a bite of the apple, Scott pulled out his phone to dial the phone number on the ad. Soon he realized that it was late to make business related calls, and maybe they weren’t even available tomorrow, it was the weekend for god sake.  _ They can afford a personal ad, they must be an adult. And if they don’t answer tonight, I’ll leave a voicemail. Cassie will understand. Besides she loved to go to the grocery store.  _ Scott nodded to himself and pressed the call button before he talked himself back out of it.

 

The line rang a few times before being answered with a “Hello?” and some loud background noise. 

 

Scott stuttered, “Hello, is this Sam Wilson?” He raised an eyebrow at the sound of glass clinking together.

 

“This is he, may I ask who is calling?” The man on the other end was now trying to speak over the background noise now.

 

“Oh. Yeah, This is Scott Lang?” He immediately slapped himself mentally for adding a question mark after his name. “I’m calling about your babysitting ad. In the paper. Babysitter for hire. That’s you right?” Scott placed his hand over his mouth before he rambled more.

 

“Babysitter ad?” Sam went quiet under the noises in the background, it sounded like voices and music? “Wait, that ad I put out like a month ago? I didn’t think anyone saw it.” Sam let out a breathy laugh, “Give me one second man.” 

 

“Okay,” Scott stuttered again, left to the loud background until it suddenly stopped. “Hello?”

 

“Hey, I’m still here.” Sam’s voice replied immediately, “Sorry about that. So, the babysitting ad?”

 

“Um,” Scott blanked out from hearing Sam Wilson's voice fully. It was smooth, calming even. “Are you still looking for a job?” He rushed out quickly.

 

“When do I start?”

 

“Wait. Really? Just like that you’re ready to start?” _This_ _Sam Wilson really seems like something else,_ thought Scott.

 

“Yeah, you’re the only person who has called me about that ad. You’re probably the only one who actually saw it.” Scott snorted at that. “So, what’s your story?”

 

“My story?” 

 

“You call me about a month old babysitter ad. You have to have some life to lead you to this conversation.” Was Scott really that easy to figure out? That a mystery man that he’s been on the phone with for two minutes can come to the conclusion that Scott is in a tough spot.

 

Life could always be described as a ‘tough spot’ for Scott, ever since he was young with his sick mom. From theft to jail to release to starting his life back up while taking care of Cassie, calling a tough spot would be taking it lightly. But he can’t drop all that on a babysitter, a stranger, one that could be temporary no less. So Scott breathed in through his nose, gathering the courage to tell the other man how he sees it.

 

“I do lead some life, and the most important thing to me in that life is my daughter.” He nearly whispered. “Being a single dad in New York is nearly impossible. So here’s the deal. The idea of a babysitter is new to Cassie, I want her to be able to tell me if she’s okay with it or not. If you’re available, can you watch her for a couple of hours tomorrow morning?” Scott rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, clutching the apple he’s been holding. “If she likes you, I’ll tell you my story.”

 

Silence, he quickly brought the phone away from his ear to check if the call was still going and back. “Sounds like I got an impression to make. How old is she?” Sam asked after a while.

 

“Eight.” Answered Scott, hints of pride in his voice.

 

“Alright. Text this number with your address and when you want me to watch Cassie tomorrow and I’ll be there.” Sam ended the call before Scott had a chance to react. Pulling the phone away from his ear, he took another bite of the apple to collect his thoughts. 

 

_ What’s done is done, it’s up to Cassie now.  _ Scott concluded while pulling his phone back into his range of sight. He began to compose a new text to Sam Wilson. Running all the things he could say through his head, he decided to keep it to the point.

 

_ 5621 43rd Ave Queens. 9:30 am. -Scott Lang _

**Author's Note:**

> i just got back into writing fics so,,, any mistakes, let me know. and any suggestions/critics are encouraged !!


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